Games are serious business

1 September 2005 — 10:00am

Games are no longer child's play, they are serious business. Computer-game technology is being used for applications as diverse as military simulations, workplace training, in education, emergency services and healthcare.

According to Andrew Stapleton, a researcher at Swinburne University of Technology, digital games are being used "to train firefighters, create architectural spaces, simulate physical phenomena and even to treat phobias in patients".

Dr Stapleton says games are a powerful learning tool because they encourage active problem solving and strategic thinking, emphasising exploration and self-discovery rather than learning by rote.

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"Players want to learn so they can unravel the mysteries of the game world and eventually come to master the game," he says.

Another academic agrees. "To play a game well requires the same kinds of learning, study, understanding and practise as are required of any educational activity," Professor Don Norman, of California's Northwestern University, says. "People learn best when challenged."

A group called the Serious Games Initiative has been established in the United States to foster the growth of computer games beyond the entertainment sector. Co-director Ben Sawyer says the use of game-related technologies in fields such as health, education, security and business is growing rapidly.

As part of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, Adrian Denyer, a training specialist for Transport and Distribution Australia, has researched Australia's ability to tap into this market.

Mr Denyer says there is enormous potential to use specialist programs and commercial computer games as alternative training and assessment tools.

"Serious games have the same ability as any normal computer game to emotionally immerse people using adventure or strategy," Mr Denyer says. "But the difference is the subtly disguised intention that players will learn as they play, with progress checkpoints acting as a platform for knowledge and content assessment. Computer games will soon be a key part of how we learn things."

Mr Denyer is working on a game to teach transport and distribution workers to lift freight, operate forklifts, load trucks and identify security threats.

Flight and driving simulators have long been used to train pilots and drivers but game technology is also increasingly used for training in other fields. For example, Shield of Freedom is a US Coast Guard multiplayer game that tests communication and tactical performance.

Pertinent in the current climate of terrorist activity, game applications are being used to simulate tragedies and train officials and emergency personnel.

"Games can enable players to experience places and events that are not readily accessible, or are too dangerous to experience in the real world," says Dr Stapleton. "Players can experience these things knowing that they can learn by making mistakes."

The Virtual Reality Centre at RMIT University recently produced a prototype simulation for NSW State Rail to train staff to respond appropriately in an emergency. A virtual 3-D model of a Sydney underground station was constructed so trainees could role-play during different scenarios, "experiencing the panic, reduced vision and stress of an evacuation procedure".

Similar applications include Incident Commander, a US homeland security tool tutoring municipal officials in managing accidents or disasters, and HazMat, preparing those typically first to respond after a catastrophe. Code Orange also trains hospital workers to deal with the rapid decision-making required after mass-casualty events.

Games are now widely used in American healthcare, says Mr Sawyer. "We have exercise games, games that help with phobia treatment, games used for treating pain related to cancer or burns, and games used to train healthcare workers (including surgeons) in important new procedures."

For example, Splash is an underwater scuba environment used for pain distraction during chemotherapy treatments, while Iceworld helps patients suffering from burns.

The Virtual Reality Medical Center in California is using VR technology to treat patients suffering from phobias such as fear of flying, spiders, heights and closed spaces. Patients wear head-mounted displays with earphones to place them in a computer-generated world where they experience stimuli related to their phobia.

Games are also becoming popular in corporate training. Specialists such as games2train have provided serious games for such companies as IBM, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reuters and American Express. Topics have included communicating with clients, sexual harassment, business travel, computer-aided design, financial trading and product knowledge.

In the book Got Game, management consultants John Beck and Mitchell Wade argue that games provide excellent business training. They say gamers are flexible, not easily discouraged, and skilled at multi-tasking, decision-making and evaluating risk.

The president of the Game Developers' Association of Australia, Evelyn Richardson, believes serious games can help boost the local industry, which already employs more than 700 people. But there are barriers, including cost and a perception that games are vacuous and only for children's entertainment.

Dr Stapleton says many people still discount that there can be any relationship between fun and learning. "There still exist ideas such as games are only for kids, or that learning and fun, or play and work, are in some way mutually exclusive."

Despite the critics, academics such as Associate Professor Catherine Beavis from Deakin University are now studying what children can learn from computer games.

Professor Beavis says children can learn much from interactive games. She says in a society where there has been "an explosion of knowledge", games teach children vital computer skills, literacy and how to complete intricate tasks.

"Games can encourage positive approaches to learning because games often immerse players in complex worlds, encourage them to keep trying, reward persistence and encourage experimentation. Games also teach young people new forms of literacy brought about by technology."

Already games such as Age of Empires, SimCity, Rollercoaster Tycoon and The Sims are used in some Australian classrooms and universities.

Many other specialist educational titles are available, including Hungry Red Planet, a game teaching children about nutrition, Cool School, helping kids handle conflict, the Virtual-U university management simulation and Ditto's Keep Safe Adventure, an Australian project designed to make children aware of personal safety and the danger of sex offenders.

"Instead of using computer games purely for escapist fun, they can also be a medium to address important social concerns,' says BioEspionage study leader Miriam Hochwald. "Biomedical information can be challenging because there's a lot of terminology to learn even before you start working out what different parts of the immune system do. The inherent fun and interactive nature of game playing could help to make learning about it easier."

Several games have been developed in Australia to promote social awareness or make political statements, such as Escape from Woomera, focusing on the plight of refugees in detention centres, and Street Survivor, highlighting homelessness.

Stand and deliver

The US Army is recruiting a new generation of soldiers with a computer game.

The game, America's Army, has become one of the world's most popular online games, played by more than 5 million people since its debut in 2002.

The game, available from recruitment stations or free download from americasarmy.com, was designed by the US Department of Defence to give civilians an insider's perspective on army operations.

Using the first-person stance, players enter into military service defending the US after completing a virtual basic training. Using authentic weapons such as assault rifles and grenades, players then take on specialist roles; fire-team leader or combat medic.

Combat veterans from the Gulf War were consulted for the design of the squad-based missions, which include invading a terrorist camp.

With the army now struggling to fulfil recruitment quotas after the unpopular occupation of Iraq, America's Army has become an important recruitment tool.

Surveys have revealed the game is the army's most effective tool for reaching young people. Twenty-nine per cent of young Americans aged 16 to 24 reported America's Army was their primary source of information about the army.

"America's Army is a great communications vehicle to create a community of interest in the army and to highlight the role teamwork and values play," Lieutenant-Colonel Casey Wardynski, the game's originator, said. "The game has opened entirely new channels of communication between young adults and the army."

A modified version of the game is also used in military bases to maintain skills. The game rewards teamwork, tactics and considered decision-making, while penalising risk-taking. Commercial PS2 and Xbox versions are in development.

Xbox game Full Spectrum Warrior began as a US Army training simulator.

The game was not altered substantially for commercial release and features believable environments, with troop formations and strict army doctrine.

Games are being used by the Australian Defence Force as an adjunct to other forms of training in flight, weapon, maintenance and command and control simulations.